Livingstone told LBC today his approach to TV was to "say what I believe" as "that's what Jeremy does, that's probably why he’s so popular".

"I never had all that nonsense of sitting down with some spin doctor telling me what I should say. I always got up and said what I thought. That's the same with John McDonnell and Jeremy Corbyn."

Livingstone also said "no one in the Labour leadership complained" to him directly when he said Labour MP Dan Jarvis' decision to accept a donation from a hedge fund was like "Jimmy Savile fundraising (for) a children's group".

"I was making that a really over the top statement because Dan Jarvis [ought] to stop and think because when you take money from the trade unions as I've done all my life, it is because they expect you to defend their rights, the welfare state and all of that.

He added: "If you take money from hedgefunds, it's because they want to make sure you don't clamp down on all this tax dodging."

Livingstone added that "embittered old MPs" who "keep trying to undermine Jeremy" were making it "more difficult" for a Labour government to be elected and should "get on board".